The Experiment
by Chandlure Trainez
Summary: The hate... the love... the story of Yasopp and Bachina, and how despite hating each other, they fell in love. All because of a questionable school psychology experiment. Pre-Romance Dawn. Pre-Gol D Roger Death. Featuring Vista, Smoker and a poltergeist named Charles (pst, don't tell Dragon).
1. Prologue

_The Experiment_

_Prologue_

Yasopp stared at his father from his spot in front of the large mahogany desk. He lounged lazily in the seat, seeing no need to be uncomfortable as he knew he would be there for a while. The light played with the golden highlights in his curly hair, his eyes, the colour of milk chocolate were teasing, but guarded. He had his hands in his lap, fiddling with his green slingshot, his fingers pulling at the band, unconsciously checking for hairline tears.

"Yasopp, get your feet off my desk, they're filthy."

"Aye, _Sir_," Yasopp mocked, removing his boots from the desk and crossing his legs. He looked down, his curls brushing his cheeks, a frown on his face when his fingers found a hairline tear in the band of his slingshot. With a click of his tongue he undid the ties of the band and threw it onto the desk.

His father observed him while he did this, an almost identical frown on his own face as he watched Yasopp pull another band from his pocket and examine it under the bright light of the desk lamp. "What did you do this time, Yasopp?"

Yasopp looked up for a minute, the expression on his face saying he forgot where he had been, before he shrugged and looked back down at what he was doing, "for telling the truth, I suppose. I don't know Pop, you always taught me to tell the truth, I don't get why I would get in trouble for doing what I was told." He paused for a moment and gave his father a sheepish smile, "oh, and I shot a rock through the window while Commodore Garp was giving his speech to the first year high school students."

His father glared at him, thoroughly unamused with his son's behaviour. "Why do you insist on acting like a complete idiot, I will never understand. You need to buckle down or you will never go anywhere in life. No one wants a fuck up and all you ever do now is fuck up. If you don't agree with the Marine methods, _fine_, but there are other students in this school who do, and as a student of this school, not to mention the son of the Headmaster, you are expected to hold yourself with a manner of decorum fitting such status. That means respecting those with ideas that differ from yours, even if you don't necessarily agree with them."

Yasopp merely stared at his father and blinked, "if you say so, Jasper."

"It is Father to you, or Sir," Jasper snapped. He clenched his fists and took several deep breaths, "listen. Do you think I agree with all of those pirate guest speakers we have around here? Of course not, but I respect them. They are major donators to the school, the same goes with the Marines. We can't have you attacking them, this school would be in ruins if we lost the Marine funding.

"Hell, the only reason your friend Dragon is even in this school is because Garp is a major donator, if it weren't for that he would have been kicked out years ago. All that non-sense he sprouts about a Revolution riles the student body up to the point where there are constant fights in the corridors in between periods. I don't want it on the grounds, but I deal with it because of his father."

Yasopp snorted, shaking his curls out of his eyes, "whatever." He had a small smile on his face as he fastened his new band to his slingshot, fingers deftly tying a secure knot in the string.

Jasper closed his eyes and breathed in through his nose, letting the breath out slowly through his mouth. "We'll discuss more of that later. Who have you been 'telling the truth' to this time?"

A scoff escaped Yasopp's mouth, "that new girl, Giordano." He sneered, the look on his face made it seem as if the mere name left a bad taste in his mouth.

"Bachina?" Yasopp rolled his eyes at the near adoring tone colouring his father's voice, "that girl is the best thing to happen to the science department since its inception! Not to mention she is exceptionally well-behaved, when she isn't confronting _you_ at least. Now that is a girl with a bright future ahead of her, not only are the Marines vying for her, but I am to understand Gol D. Roger is considering recruiting her after graduation. Instead of insulting the girl, maybe take a few leaves from her book."

"Well they are both out of luck," Yasopp chuckled. "Dragon was practically having a constant orgasm this entire week because she agreed to join him as a lead scientist if he gets the Revolution running." He paused for a moment, frowning slightly, "and I never said I insulted her. I merely told the truth, which was something _you_ taught me to always do."

"Whether that is true or not, is neither here nor there," Jasper responded after a moment, head reeling from the new information. "It is obvious that to you, insulting and telling the truth have become mutually inclusive otherwise, my idiotic offspring, you would not be in here annoying me when I have other work I need to attend to."

"What, your massage?" Yasopp sneered, "terribly sorry to disturb such important _work_."

Jasper growled, "never mind the massage! You have great potential, but you insist on causing trouble for everyone here. I've had enough of it." He stood from his chair, his eyes straying to a portrait of himself, Yasopp's mother and four children, the youngest of which was swaddled in a blanket in Yasopp's arms.

"I can't punish you anymore, it does no good. You know breaking the window was wrong, you know whatever you said to Bachina was wrong. I know that keeping you out of classes only gives you an excuse to get into more trouble. As much as I hate to do this, especially to my own son, my hands are tied. This is your last warning."

"Until what?" Yasopp asked charily, sitting just a bit straight in his seat. His fingers stopped playing with the slingshot, allowing it to lay in his lap.

"Expulsion," Jasper answered coldly.

Yasopp chuckled and shook his head, pulling himself from his seat. "Sure, Pops. Great talk, I'll see you at dinner and we can discuss my impending expulsion further." He laughed more as he strolled out of the office, leaving his father to glare at his back.

"Fucking kid is going to send me to an early grave," Jasper muttered, opening the cabinet beside his desk and pulled out a bottle of scotch. He poured himself a generous glass and drank it in one go, wincing as the liquid burned his throat.

"He used to be such a good boy."

Jasper turned to see a woman in her late thirties standing before him. She was smiling widely at him, bouncing on the tips of her toes.

"What do you want, Marlena?" he asked the psychology professor, who was making herself at home in the seat Yasopp had vacated.

"In regards to Yasopp, I may have a solution to your problem. It is a bit unconventional," she warned, "but I think it'll prove helpful."

"I don't want the boy dead, Marlena."

Marlena scoffed and rolled her eyes, "please. Nothing so pedestrian. The Giordano girl, Bachina, she is the key."

"They hate each other."

"This is where it becomes a bit unconventional. See, my psychology class next week will be starting a 'practice marriage' of sorts. They will be forced to live with each other, sleep (not sexually) together and do things married couples do. Things like make a budget, cook dinner, grocery shop, pay bills

"I was going to allow the students to choose their partners, but I could instead, and place Bachina and Yasopp together. This could wind up benefitting everyone in the end. It could help her come out of her shell more, calm him down, and maybe even give us a break from their fighting."

Jasper stayed silent for a minute, pondering the idea before suddenly raising an eyebrow at her, "wait a minute, I never gave permission for such an experiment to be run. I doubt many of the parents would approve."

"An experiment that teaches their kids responsibility, thinking things through and the importance of safe sex? I don't see many parents being against that. It is not as if they are legally married, and it will all be done under the supervision of myself and the heads of house."

He gave her a cynical look, "are you certain this will work?"

Marlena gave him an almost pitying smile, "humans are peculiar beings. They take their cues from other humans, one should never underestimate their psychological connection. It is an important lesson, not only for Yasopp, but the other students as well."

Jasper sighed and leaned back in his leather chair, considering his option. He turned to stare out of the wall length mirror behind him, watching as Yasopp jumped down the last of the front steps and raced to meet his friends at the school entrance. He could not help but wince as his son was tackled to the ground, and was unable to help the small smile at hearing his son's laughter, rarity that is was nowadays. He moved his eyes to the Chemistry building, locking on the window where Bachina was lifting up her goggles to glare down at the gaggle of boys fooling around outside.

He nodded to himself, "very well." His voice sounded slightly defeated as he turned back towards her. "You have my permission to go ahead with the project- I'll have my secretary write up the permission forms and send them out to the parents. I am not expecting much, mind you, except maybe him shooting a rock or two through your classroom window. If he acts up during the project, I will be forced to expel him."

"You can't do that!" Marlena said, worry lacing her tone. "If you were to expel him during the project I will have to fail Bachina. She is here on scholarship, failure in a class is not an option for her!"

Jasper scowled, now seeing what her true plan was. "Then I suggest you keep him in check."

"He's your son, why don't you keep the kid in check." Marlena muttered to herself as she stood, smoothing down her skirt.

"What was that?" Jasper asked pleasantly, his eyes flashing dangerously warning her that she was on thin ice.

"Nothing, Sir," she responded sweetly. "By the way, the project will last until the end of the semester."

"Then you have a month, if he hasn't changed by then, my son or not, he is out of here. Now, you get out. I've things I must attend to." Jasper waved blindly towards the door, already having turned back towards the window.

"Aye, aye, Captain," Marlena mocked saluted. As she stepped out of his office, she could not keep herself from rolling her eyes at the ceiling. Yasopp was by no means a bad child, he just needed to be pushed back in the right direction. She chuckled to herself, Jasper may not believe her plan would work, but he will soon learn that nobody should underestimate the effectiveness of outside influence, or the psychology behind it.


	2. Of Friendships and Marriages

Chapter One:

_Of Friendships and Marriages _

Bachina Giordano raced about her room, hopping frantically on one foot as she fought to put on her shoe and brush her hair at the same time. It was Monday morning, and she was running late. It would not do to ruin her perfect attendance record. Especially when she only slept two floors above the classroom she needed to be in- that would be embarrassing. It was times like this that she wished for a roommate, just one to fall back on when she woke up late. Unfortunately, she was not the most popular girl in school and thus, had an extremely difficult time finding a roommate. That paired with her coming to the school half way through the last term meant that she eventually gave up the search all together.

She pulled on her school blazer and grabbed her books before racing out of her room, barely stopping to make sure the door closed firmly behind her. Truth be told, it was not the complete lack of popularity that bothered Bachina, it was not even the nasty things said behind her back, it was not having one friend to confide in when she was so far away from home. Granted, she did have a friend in Monkey D. Dragon, but even they have fallen into just friendly nods in the corridor in passing.

She jumped down the first flight of stairs before running down the second one, hair flipping over her shoulder as she threw open the door leading to the fourth floor. She sighed, skidding to a stop in front of her classroom door, her breaths coming out in short pants as she opened the door and walked to her seat in front of the professor's desk. The late bell rang just as her bag hit the desk, and she mentally gave a cheer, her record was safe for today.

Not even bothering to greet the girl beside her, Bachina pulled out her sketchbook and continued to work on the project that she had spent half the night working on. It took a few more minutes before Professor Nelson walked through the door, soaked to the bone. Unlike the students, teachers did not sleep in the same building that classes were held, but the smaller building which was a good five minutes down the road. "Morning class, settle down now." There was no change in the noise level, the students not even noticing that the woman had entered the room. "I said quiet down, you brats!"

The room fell silent, but it was not because of anything the professor had said.

The shadow at the door is what had caught every one's attention. It was standing there almost as if the owner were hesitating on entering. It was then that Bachina remembered that they were supposed to be getting a new student in their homeroom. Not that she had high hopes for that friendship. If anyone were to get near her it was guaranteed to be social suicide, Yasopp would see to it.

Yasopp Curran was the school's resident troublemaker, and the headmaster's eldest son. This of course meant that he was gorgeous as hell, because was that not how things always worked? He had eyes the colour of melted milk chocolate, thick curly black hair that surrounded his handsome face when he didn't have it pulled back, and muscles that even Bachina had to (begrudgingly) admit she fantasized about on more than one occasion.

Yes, he was gorgeous, but that was really all he was, something to look at. Yasopp was a player at heart and was always seen going on a date with some poor girl. Bachina could only shake her head when girls threw themselves at Yasopp, feeling that she was the only one on campus with enough intelligence to see through his act. Or rather, the only one who cared to. All things considered, it was probably a good thing that she couldn't stand him, because Yasopp despised her.

After what seemed like a millennia the classroom door finally opened. "Um... pardon my lateness, Miss. I got lost, this building is very confusing." said a deep voice. Bachina blinked, watching the boy who had stopped in front of the professor's desk, hands clasped tightly behind his back. His long black hair was tied back into a ponytail, his bangs brushing the tips of his eyelashes which surrounded black eyes that seemed to shine like a million stars in the dim light of the classroom. He also had a wooden sword that was fastened on his back underneath his bag, most likely to keep him from losing it.

He was very tall, so tall in fact that he had to bend so not to hit his head on the top of the door, and had muscular arms. The tank top he wore bore a white collar and the tight black pants made his ass look amazing and legs seem as if they ran for miles. Bachina had to suppress the urge to roll her eyes, the girls, and admittedly some of the guys, were panting at him like starving dogs.

"Vista, it's good to see you again." Mrs. Nelson said her tone clipped. If there was one thing she hated, it was lateness. Even though, more often than not it was she who was late.

"I apologize for the lateness," Vista said sheepishly. "Yasopp gave me a map of the school, but I must have read it wrong."

"That must have been it," she said lightly, perhaps so used to Yasopp's antics that nothing shocked her. She waved at the class, "go have a seat. We were about to begin roll call."

Vista's eyes swept over the classroom, a bemused expression on his face as he watched his new peers sit straighter in their seats as he passed over him. Bachina had to hold in a scoff, she could practically hear their thoughts, and most of them were not suitable for teens. She looked back down at her sketchbook, frowning at the stray mark she accidentally made on the page.

The emerald haired girl huffed in annoyance as she dropped the pencil she was holding onto her desk and reached below her chair to her bag for her eraser in the front pocket. She froze when Vista threw her a crooked grin, raising an eyebrow as he casually made his way over and sat in the chair beside her, dropping his bag onto the desk.

She fished her eraser from her bag and straightened, determined not to look him in the eye as she did so. It had worked too, and Bachina had just picked up her pencil when he grinned at her again, "hello." He had said pleasantly.

"Hi," Bachina muttered, her eyes not leaving her sketchbook as so to not make eye contact with him.

"How has this year been treating you?"

Bachina blinked, "...fine, I suppose. It has been a bit of a quiet year." she replied truthfully. Well, not so much quiet as less dramatic fights with Yasopp. "What about yours?"

"I went to a boarding school in the New World, hated it. My parents allowed me to transfer here since it has a pretty decent sword training programme." To her credit, she succeeded in not throwing him a look of disdain; another meat headed swordsman was just what the school needed. Granted, it was better than another meat headed sniper, but just barely.

"Well, I've a bit of advice for you. Stay away from the sniperial squad. Their leader is a real douche." Bachina said lightly, causing him to chuckle.

"Ah, Yasopp you mean?" He had an expression that Bachina could not quite decipher, almost as if he was in on some big secret she was not privy to.

"You know him well?" She asked dryly closing her sketchbook and placing her pencil and eraser on top of it. The conversation between her and Vista enough to pull her away from her drawing.

Vista scoffed and shook his head, "I wouldn't go that far, but I do tend to steer clear of him when an occasion arises." He threw her a wry smile, sighing as he released his hair from its confines so he could run his fingers through it. "You could say that our parents are good... _friends_."

Bachina coughed to hide her laughter, "they're friends you say?"

Vista groaned, his fingers deftly retying his hair, a tormented sigh left his lips as he leaned his chin on his fist, "let's not get into it. Makes me sick just thinking about it."

"What do you want to talk about then?"

"Let's talk about you."

Bachina's eyes widened, her mouth dropping open before she had the presence of mind to click it shut. Someone being interested in her was new. Perhaps, just perhaps, there was a friend in Vista.

o0o

Vista scrunched up his nose, "what is he doing?" he asked, his tone barely disguising his disgust.

Bachina took a sip of her milkshake, regarding the lumpy mess in her cup before shrugging her shoulders. She spared a glance across the field towards Yasopp, who was with Dragon and about half a dozen of the school's cheerleaders. The brunette, Bonny, Bobbi, Billi, Brandi?, that was currently hanging off his arm looked about ready to faint. "Likely getting ready to make an ass of himself."

He chuckled at that as he shook his hair from his eyes. Once class was over he had pulled his hair out of its ponytail, which allowed it to flow like a river down his broad shoulders. "Who are the other people around him who look about ready to piss themselves?"

"Oh, haven't you heard about his cult?" She responded sardonically, smirking at the perplexed expression that crossed his face. "The dark skinned boy with the short black hair is Monkey D. Dragon; his father is one of the higher up Marines. He's best friends with Yasopp, but we get on pretty well too, when we get the chance to talk." Bachina said matter-of-factly, "the girls are part of his fan club."

"I'm sorry, he... he has a _fan club_?"

Bachina nodded, "a legit one. If you check the bulletins with the lists of extracurricular activities you will see them on it."

"You can't be serious," Vista was staring at the group as if they were aliens, which as far as she was concerned, they were.

Shaking her head, she pulled out the extracurricular sheet that she had kept from the beginning of the year in her folder. "Nope, see?" She pointed to where _The_ _Yasopp Fan Club _was listed. "Right there between gardening and kendo."

She shoved the paper back in her bag, and reached for her milkshake that she had placed on the floor. "They even have matching bags and t-shirts with his face on them." Taking a sip, she put it between her knees so that she could get her sketchbook and pencil out of her bag. She clicked her tongue and peered into the bag, "shoot. I must've left my pencil in art." Bachina pouted before looking over at Vista, smiling sheepishly, "you wouldn't happen to have one I could borrow, would you? I have this project to finish before my second period of art after lunch."

"Sure," he reached into his pocket and handed her a mechanical pencil. She smiled at him gratefully, and flipped open her book to the almost finished sketch. He watched her as she moved her hand confidently across the paper. "Besides art, what classes do you have after lunch?"

Bachina bit the end of the pencil and frowned, "organic chemistry and -ugh-, general psychology."

Vista cocked his head to the side, "it seems like general psychology would be something right up your ally."

Bachina scoffed, "it's not the class." She paused for a moment, "okay, some of it is the class but mostly it's the fact that Yasopp has it with me. He sits right next to me and uses it as any excuse to start a fight. Fling my books off the desk, trip me, insult me, you name it and he's done it."

"That is no way to treat a girl," Vista said, disgust clear in his voice, glaring at Yasopp who was shooting at something in one of the trees.

"Yeah, well, that's Yasopp for you." Bachina said rather dismissively.

"You said that some of your disdain was because of the class itself?" Vista inquired. Bachina looked up at him, her eyes narrowing slightly at his rigid posture and clenched fists. At this point he was still glaring at Yasopp, the look in his eyes dangerous.

Bachina sighed, leaning back against the tree behind her. "Well the professor, Marlena, she is pretty cool. She graduated from here about thirteen years ago and has been teaching ever since, but she has this penchant for making the class do these very odd month long social experiments. Last year she got most of the senior year addicted to porn."

This garnered Vista's full attention, he too finally relaxing back against the tree as he turned his gaze onto her, "porn?"

Bachina raised an eyebrow, "yeah. You know, the stuff where people get paid to have sex with each other or pose in sexual positions?"

Vista blushed and looked away from her, "I know what porn is!" He yelled, a bit too loudly in her opinion, as it gathered the attention of those within the immediate area. "I was just wondering how that was allowed to happen."

Bachina hid her face in her knees to stifle her giggles, her shoulders jumping with the effort to keep them subdued. "Marlena gets away with almost everything by claiming it to be a social experi- oh, crap, what the hell do you want?" She sneered, staring up at Yasopp who was glaring down at Vista and herself.

"Vista, what the hell are you doing with the likes of her?" He looked to the left and right before lowering his voice, "And yelling about porn in the courtyard like that! I have a reputation to uphold here."

Vista smiled as he stood up, wiping dirt off the back of his pants. "Bachina is a friend of mine." He now had his wooden sword in hand, twirling it expertly. "Besides, from what I've heard of your reputation, it isn't one you should be proud of."

The shorter boy glowered at Vista, his hand reaching into his back pocket for his slingshot. He clicked his tongue, looking around them to see that they had gathered a bit of an audience. Sighing, Yasopp eased back onto his heels, "we'll talk about this when you get home." Turning on his heel, Yasopp stalked back towards his friends.

"Looking forward to it!" Vista called, plopping back down onto the grass beside Bachina and laying his sword back against the tree. "Moron," he muttered under his breath. He sighed and smiled at Bachina, "sorry about that."

"At home? You guys live together?" Bachina asked, disbelief painting her voice. "What happened to barely knowing each other?"

Vista shook his head, "in my defense, I claimed to not knowing him well. Not to not knowing him."

Bachina narrowed her eyes, "there is a difference in that how?"

"Simple. One could live in a household and never get to really know a person, but they would know more than a normal acquaintance. Take this for example; a normal acquaintance would not know that the idiot leaves wet towels on the floor because he thinks they dry quicker than on the heated rack next to the shower."

"Touché," Bachina accepted, but frowned after a moment's thought. "You two aren't brothers, and you aren't cousins because you would have been here since birth like the others. Why would you be living in the same house?"

Vista scowled, "I've already told you. Our parents are _friends_."

Bachina's eyebrows rose until they were hidden beneath her bangs, "oh, I thought you meant just fuck buddies. You mean they are married?"

He grimaced, "I really don't want to talk about it."

"I'm so sorry," Bachina rubbed his arm. "I won't bring it up again. I can't imagine what it is like living with him."

"And it would still be too soon." The bell rang signaling the end of lunch hour, "Walk me to class? I wasn't kidding when I said this place was like a maze." Vista stood and grabbed her hand to pull her up. He reached down to grab his sword and bag, throwing the latter over his shoulder.

"Sure," Bachina said, bobbing her head as she bent down to shove her sketchbook back in her bag. Shouldering the bag, she handed him back his pencil with a smile. "Thanks for the pencil."

He waved her off, "keep it. You need it for art don't you? I'll just collect it from you tomorrow."

She beamed and put the pencil in her bag. He said tomorrow, meaning he planned on meeting up with her again. "Thanks!" She began to follow him towards the main building, accepting his time table from him so she could help him find his class.

"What're friends for? You help me find my class, I give you a pencil."

Bachina laughed, friend. She really did like the sound of that word coming from his mouth.

o0o

An audible sigh left Bachina's mouth as she sank into her desk chair, her left hand running through her hair to look for Vista's pencil. She pulled it from a particularly vicious tangle, and huffed. With a tug her sketchbook was pulled from her bag and she opened to a new page, her project from this morning finished and handed in. General psychology would not begin for another five minutes which meant that she would have some time to sketch out her latest idea. "Are you freaking kidding me!?" She snapped, glaring at Yasopp before bending over to pick up her sketchbook from the floor. She clicked her tongue, ready to make another comment, but held her tongue and positioned her body so that it faced away from him as the Professor flew into the room, looking far too happy for a Monday.

Dragon passed by her, and she threw him a smile, barely able to contain her snort at the slap that he gave to the back of Yasopp's head as he had walked behind him to the desk on Yasopp's other side. "Good to see that you could bother to join us, Mr. Monkey." Marlena said dryly, moving to the door and slamming it shut. "Perhaps set an alarm when you are with your girlfriend and you will get here on time next class."

Dragon scowled at her, elbowing Yasopp in his ribs at the obnoxious chuckle that left his lips. "Yes, Professor."

Marlena hummed in response as she placed the stack of papers in her arms on the desk and waved her hand towards them. "These are the instructions for your next proje- oh, knock that off!" She scolded, folding her arms in front of her chest.

Bachina had to bite her lip and stare at the ceiling to keep herself from joining the class's collective groan. She scowled at Yasopp whose hand had hit the side of her hand when he raised it, "what horror are you going to put us through this month?"

Marlena grinned, her arms falling to her sides, "I am so glad you asked, Mr. Curran."

The smirk he was supporting fell from his face, her grinning was never a good sign for them. Her pouting usually meant it was safe, her grinning meant it was going to be something unpleasant.

Marlena seemed to take great joy in his discomfort as she trailed around the desk to the Visual Den Den Mushi that lay on the other side. The words 'Marriage' appeared on the screen before them, causing murmurs through the room.

"For this month's project you will each be marrying one of your peers." Marlena said, barely able to keep the girlish squeal from colouring her voice.

Bachina slid down in her seat, barely missing Yasopp's arm when he swiveled around in his chair to get a good look at their classmates. Most of the girls and some of the boys were giving him a longing look. "Gay marriage is allowed, yeah? Can I marry Dragon?"

Marlena laughed, "yes, there are a few of those, but I've already paired you guys up and you did not get Mr. Monkey, I'm afraid."

Yasopp scowled and leaned back in his seat, his arms crossed tightly in front of his chest. Bachina was impressed, that was the second time in a day that someone was able to get him to shut up. That must have been some sort of record.

"Is that all of the questions?" No one said a word, most of the students still staring at Yasopp and not listening to anything that being said. "This project will begin tomorrow right after class. If you have a class after this one, for tomorrow only, you will be excused. Take the time off to move your things from your dormitories into the small apartments that you will be sharing with your partner."

"We can't even stay in the dormitories!?" Yasopp exclaimed, "Are you fucking serious?"

"You don't even live in the dormitories, what are you complaining about?" Dragon hissed at him, "Look at it as an opportunity to get away from your family for a while."

Marlena glowered, her eyes flashing. "Mr. Curran, shut up. The point of this project is to show you guys what being in a real marriage is like; it is supposed to teach you a host of things. Responsibility, how to work out issues, co-operation, planning- be grateful that this project is only for a month. When you are in a real marriage, you are in it forever. This will hopefully have you think twice before you jump into one in the future.

"Now, you will be living in the apartments that have been set up for you in the Northern tower."

"Professor, if I may. That place is condemned. There is a poltergeist living there and he is murderous. The last time one of the students went in there on a dare, they lost an eye." Dragon cast a weary look at the tower through the window at his side. Even from his vantage point, and average eyesight, he could see the poltergeist in the uppermost window. He shivered and quickly looked away.

"You are the bravest guy I know, and you are afraid of a freaking ghost?" Yasopp chuckled, hiding his face in his arms to stifle them.

"Poltergeist! A ghost that can touch physical things, how can you think that is not creepy?" Dragon defended, continuing to sneak weary peeks at the tower.

"Mr. Monkey, Charlie was the one to offer us the tower." Dragon's gaze snapped up to his professor, his eyes roving over her face as if she had suddenly grown three heads, which has happened before, believe it or not.

"Oh, yeah, let us go willingly into the tower with a murderous ghost, that is going to end well for us." He snapped his head back towards the window and gulped, his eyes widening when he saw Charlie sharpening what looked like a machete.

Marlena snapped her fingers, "if you truly have an issue with the tower we can discuss it with the class after I explain the details of the project." Dragon sighed in relief and leaned back in his chair, subtly angling his body away from the window so that his eyes would not wander back to the tower.

Marlena sighed, "As I was saying, you will be living with your partner in the apartments, doing the stuff married people do. This means you will be creating a budget, paying rent, going grocery shopping. Be grateful that we are giving you the money and not making you work for it." Marlena glared at Yasopp, who was once again raising his hand. "No, the money is not real. You will not be able to use it outside the premises of the school, Mr. Curran." Bachina smirked when she heard the 'not like you need it anyway, you brat.' that Marlena had muttered under her breath.

"Are we including sex in this?" Dragon inquired, eyebrow raised. "I don't believe my girlfriend would approve of that."

"As if that ever stopped you," Marlena said dryly.

"Is that a yes, or?"

"I am not telling you to go have sex with your partner; I would get arrested for telling you that. If you guys want to have sex, that is not my concern. But use protection because I am not losing my job over baby drama." Marlena rubbed her forehead and was almost beginning to regret creating the experiment, almost.

"Now, you will need to spend as much time as possible with each other. You will be given a journal to write about what you have experienced through the day and how you feel about the marriage thus far." The class groaned again, "it is not mandatory to fill the journal, but the twenty page paper you will be writing at the end of the project is. I suggest you do use the journal because it will make writing the paper a cake walk."

"Twenty pages!?" Yasopp complained, "Do you think we have no other classes, or activities? The sniperial tournament is coming up in a couple of weeks! I don't have the time to write twenty pages on my feelings."

"Fear not, Mr. Curran. You will have plenty of time to practice the week you have off from your partner." Marlena sat on her desk and folded her legs under her, "I believe that the end of that week is the start of the tournament which means you'll be plenty prepared."

"Riddle me this then, how do you expect me to write, what I assume is 5 pages, on the mere freedom I feel?"

"Don't worry, Curran. I'm sure your partner will be writing a hundred pages on their relief of being away from you." Bachina shrugged her shoulders, "maybe you can just pay them to write it for you. Everyone knows that you haven't written an assignment yourself since the eighth year." She hid her face behind her hair, the blush rising up her cheeks when Dragon fell from his seat, his laughter uncontrollable.

"Now that that is settled," Marlena took a drink from her water bottle. "If you are all ready, I will tell you who your partner is. Please stand and go to the back, you will be sitting with your partner for the duration of this project."

She waited until everyone gathered their books and walked to the back of the classroom. Leaning back on her hands, she looked at the class. "Bartholomew Kuma and Jessica Matthews." Kuma shrugged, never one for many words and waited for Jessica to sit before sitting himself. "Antonio and Avalo Pizarro, Gatherine and Marshall, D. Teach, Alvida and Dracule Mihawk."

There was absolutely no order in which Marlena was saying the names, they truly were random. Unless you counted pairing those with a last name, and those without one together for a majority of the groups as a pattern of sorts. She felt a strong sense of foreboding, but she pushed it aside. As long as she was not stuck with Yasopp, she could handle it.

"Monkey D. Dragon and Lucy Dinkler." Dragon and Bachina grimaced. Lucy and Dragon had had a terrible fallout after a pregnancy scare the semester prior. It seemed almost cruel for Marlena to put them together. Bachina was sad that Dragon had not wound up her partner, but grateful that she would not be put in a similar situation. She would probably have accepted a failing grade right on the spot if that would occur. The only thing worse would be-

"Bachina Giordano and Yasopp Curran."

That.

"Are you out of your fucking mind!?"

"Professor, you can't be serious!"

The class had fallen silent. The crickets across the campus could be heard, Bachina swore it. The remaining students shifted as far away from their two peers and the professor as possible, blood was surely about to be spilled.

A smile appeared on Marlena's face, a dangerous one that warned Yasopp and Bachina to be very careful with their words. "If you two have an issue, it can wait until after class. Kindly take your seat and stop wasting our time."

Bachina cursed under her breath, closing her eyes tightly and willing herself not to beat Yasopp to a pulp when he roughly pushed past her to sit down in the seat she was about to take. Frustrated, Bachina allowed her bag to hit him on the back of his head as she passed to the seat beside him. "Idiot." She hissed, throwing her bag on the desk and folding her arms in front of her chest. "This is freaking insane, she can't be serious about this."

"Fucking bitch is going to pay for this," Yasopp muttered to himself. He had pulled out his slingshot and was running his fingers over the band, his teeth biting into his bottom hard enough to cause bleeding.

"Curran, shut the hell up." Bachina snapped, "This situation is bad enough without your stupid comments."

Yasopp sneered, "as soon as this class is over I'm demanding a switch in partners."

"Looks like we agree on something for once," Bachina hissed.

"Thank god, 'cause I refuse to pretend to be married to someone as sickly and pathetic as you. I'd rather get shot in a duel and die than spend the next month living in that damned tower with you. And if you even think of stopping me, I hate to disappoint you but I have failed classes for much less."

"No need to reassure me. I already know how much of a Neanderthal you are."

Yasopp placed his sling shot on the desk and turned to glare at Bachina, "what the hell is that supposed to mean?"

Bachina rolled her eyes, "nothing it means nothing, Curran. As in what your head holds." Yasopp kicked his foot against the desk, causing it to shake. "How mature of you." she hissed, before putting her head on her arms and closing her eyes.

Yasopp saw that there was not going to be anymore to that conversation, and moved his attention back to his slingshot. Marlena had since finished reading off the last ten names and was beginning to explain the specifics of the project to the class. Neither Bachina nor Yasopp heard what she was saying; too busy alternating between glaring and ignoring each other.

Finally, after what seemed like a century, the bell signaling the end of the period rang shrilly through the room. Bachina jumped, her bag sliding off her desk and landing with a loud thud on the floor. She groaned, picked up her bag from the floor and slung it over her shoulder. Folding her arms over her chest, she waited behind her desk until her classmates filed out of the room. Yasopp was already at the professor's desk arguing with Marlena when Bachina finally made her way over.

"Just let me work with anyone besides her, Van Auger even." Yasopp was saying, an aggravated almost desperate look on his face.

"I'm sorry, Mr. Curran, but the pairings are final." Was Marlena's response. She was turning off the Visual Den Den Mushi, her back towards him so that he would not see her gleeful expression.

Bachina stepped up to the desk deciding she would give it a try. "Professor, please. My illness, I can't be stressed all of the time; he could potentially put me in the hospital."

"I've already talked to the nurse, Miss. Giordano and she told me that pairing you two up should not cause you any damage."

"Isn't the point of marriage to be with someone you love, or at least tolerate?" Bachina said, trying a different approach.

"The point of marriage is also to work out differences, which you two have plenty of." Marlena corrected, now sitting down on the desk chair and putting away the extra papers that lined her desk.

"Come on..." Yasopp said, pausing when Marlena put her hand up.

"I really think this project could benefit the both of you. If I didn't think you could do this, I would never have paired you together."

"How could being with her possibly benefit me?"

"How could being with him possibly benefit me?"

Marlena clapped, "see! You two already think alike!" At the annoyed looks on their faces, she sighed, "Give it a week. If you still can't stand each other, I might be willing to consider some sort of compromise."

"Like a change in partners?" Yasopp offered hopefully.

"No." She said firmly, "Now go on to your next class. Make the most of the next twenty four hours you have alone." Marlena said, shooing them from the room.

Dragon leaned up against the wall beside the class room, looking up when the two stalked from the room. "That bad?" He guessed, raising an eyebrow at their glares.

"We have to work out our differences, and it'll benefit us." Yasopp quoted, his voice pitched higher for emphasis. "Utter garbage." He sullenly stood in front of his friend, a pout forming on his lips. "I'd even trade it for your situation with Lucy."

Dragon looked across the hall to where Bachina was opening her locker, "and what is your take on this, Giordano?" he asked lightly, ignoring his friend in favour for the more rational of the two.

"Is Curran joining your army?" She asked lightly, not turning to face him. She pulled out her books from her back and shoved them in her locker with more force than necessary. Her bag fell uselessly to her feet, but she ignored it.

"Maybe as a sniper, why?" Dragon asked, ignoring his friend's continued pouting.

"Oh, that's too bad." Bachina shook her hair from her eyes and bent down to pick up her bag, shoving it onto the empty hook on the left side.

"You aren't going to back out of being lead scientist on his account are you?" Dragon said, hesitance in his voice. Everyone knew that he had been campaigning for her acceptance into what would eventually become a Revolutionary Army lead by him since she began school there. "We will definitely need someone with your brains fore-running the operation on the scientific side."

"Oh, I'll be there. It's him I am thinking will be in a grave. He'd be pretty useless to you two meters under." Bachina said lightly. "As for the project, I'm thinking an F for this quarter. Might give my Mother a heart attack, but anything is better than this." She grabbed her homework notebook and slammed her locker shut, waving as she turned to walk to the dormitories, her classes finished for the day, "evening."

"Bachina, wait up!" She paused and turned, a small smile lighting her face as Vista ran up to her. She bit back a laugh when he brushed past Yasopp and Dragon, shoving the former into the wall as he passed.

"Vista, hey!"

He stopped a couple of feet away from her and frowned, "what's wrong?" He said eventually, regarding her posture and facial expression.

"Take a wild guess what this month's psychology project is about." Bachina said airily. She turned so that she was not looking directly at Yasopp and Dragon, who were still standing in front of the classroom.

"I don't know, taking care of a baby seaking?" Vista transferred his sword to his right shoulder, rotating his left and wincing at the movement.

Bachina huffed, "I wish. At least they're pretty cute when they're young."

"Ouch- is it really that horrible?" Vista asked quickly, trying to cover up the pain he felt. The practice in the dojo had him worse for wear. He loved it, but it left him with pain he had not felt since he began sword training.

"It's horrible times infinity," Bachina complained, "I have to-"

"Better leave Yasopp's wife alone, Vista, you know how possessive he gets over his things," Dragon teased, him and Yasopp making their way to the dormitory as well. He winced then, having been pushed into the nearby lockers, "dick." he added, glaring at Yasopp.

Yasopp turned on his heel and stormed towards the opposite stairwell, his face set in anger, hands clenching his slingshot. Marlena was probably not going to have windows when he was done with his tantrum.

"When was the big wedding?" Vista asked lightly, ignoring Yasopp, far too used to his tantrums.

"Ugh!" Bachina crossed her arms over her chest, "it's a pretend marriage, but we need to be with each other pretty much constantly for the next month. Out of all the people in the class, I had to be put with that slime ball."

"Don't worry about it, _Sis_." Vista said teasingly, putting an arm over her shoulder. "I'll protect you from the big mean idiot."

"Vista, this isn't funny!" Bachina whined, about a step away from stomping her foot like a toddler.

"Hey, it's only a month. Our parent's will be together for the rest of their lives. He is my brother until one of us dies."

"Yeah, but he doesn't despise you like he does me. You guys probably live on opposite ends of the mansion and never see each other." Bachina sighed, "I have to sleep in the same bed as him."

"He doesn't hate you! And we share a room; the mansion is more for storage than anything. We only use the first two floors. I think ghosts live on the top floor." Vista frowned, trying to remember the details of the mansion he lived in. "Why don't you come over tomorrow and you can see for yourself-"

"Absolutely not." Bachina and Vista turned to see Yasopp standing a few feet away, pouting like a petulant child. "Vista, Dad and your mother are waiting for us. We have a meeting with the Mayor tonight."

Vista clicked his tongue, ignoring Yasopp in favour of finishing his conversation. "When does the project start?"

"We move into the Northern tower tomorrow afternoon."

"With Charlie!?" Vista asked, "That's so cool! That's what we can do tomorrow. We can move your stuff in and go meet Charlie! I always wanted to."

Bachina nodded, "okay. Maybe he'll kill me and I'll get off Scott free."

"That's not funny, Bachina!" Dragon cried from behind the door of his locker.

"Here's hoping!" Yasopp said nastily, "Vista, let's go! Dragon, I'll see you tonight for the party."

"Yeah, whatever." Dragon sighed, pulling out his coat from his locker and slamming the door shut. "I'll be at my girlfriend's until dinner. I'll call you when I'm free."

"I'll see you tomorrow. Try not to worry about it. This project might wind up being good for you." Vista said, waving at Bachina and nodded at Dragon before turning and following Yasopp.

In the distance, she could hear the two boys arguing, about what, she couldn't be certain. "I'll catch you later, Dragon."

"Night, Bachina."

Bachina shook her head, and began to walk back to her dormitory. If the project was going to start tomorrow she needed to get all of the alone time that she could before all hell broke loose. And it would, because it always did.

* * *

><p><strong>An:<strong> The pairings are random, except for Dragon/Lucy and Bachina/Yasopp. I just chose characters from the series that looked around the same age as them.

I chose Lucy as the name for Luffy's mother, I like to think he was named after her.

**To answer BatmanSwim2016's question**, it is supposed to be taking place when Bachina and Yasopp are 16 and 17 respectively, before Gol D. Roger died. I intend for it to be canon, with connections to canon verse, but it could also be seen as an AU.


	3. Charlie's Northern Tower

**Chapter Two**

_Charlie's Northern Tower_

Bachina wiped the back of her hand over her mouth and closed the toilet lid before shakily sitting down on it. She shut her eyes, taking in deep calming breaths, the world around her spinning out of control. There was a knock on her door, the sound of the doorknob turning and then the door opening, "Bachina, are you okay?" Dragon asked, peeking his head into the bathroom.

She shook her head, a violent shiver racking through her slim build. "Ban," Dragon kneeled before her and brushed the stick strands of hair away from her face. "You're making yourself sick."

"I thought you were supposed to be out with your girlfriend," Bachina said, sitting up straight and batting his hand away from her face.

Dragon sighed despairingly, "she heard about the project and the fact that my partner is Lucy. She thinks it is some sick twisted idea of mine to try and win her back." He pouted, shrugging his shoulders, "needless to say our plans were canceled. So I thought that I'd come visit you." He stood from his kneeled position and reached over to flush the toilet before offering his hand to pull her up. "C'mon."

She took his hand and allowed him to pull her to her feet. She wobbled, leaning into him to keep herself from collapsing. "It came out of nowhere," she complained. "I was just talking to my mother about this stupid marriage project and the next thing I know, I am going through a dizzy spell."

Dragon sat her on the edge of the bed and moved to sit at her desk. "I had a feeling this would happen." he confessed to her. "It was another reason for my visit, you always over think and get yourself sick." He scolded, leaning his elbows on his knees and glaring up at her. "You're here alone. What would you have done if I hadn't come by to check up on you?"

"Probably lay on the bathroom floor until I felt well enough to move," Bachina admitted. "They usually go away fairly quickly and I can get on with my day." She sighed, "I can't help it, Dragon. We'll be in the same room, the same bed, for a month. You see how he treats me in public, I can only imagine what he will do to me in private. He hates me! I hate him! I can't see this ending anyway but badly."

Dragon closed his eyes tightly, looking as if he were attempting to keep himself from saying something he should not. "Listen, I know Yasopp could be a real ass, I'll be the first to admit that, especially towards you. But, once you get to know him he really is a nice guy. If you don't believe anything else, believe that. I wouldn't be friends with him if he weren't."

There was a pause, the silence enough that he made to fill it. "You didn't hear this from me, seriously." he warned her. "He is having a lot of trouble adjusting at home, what with the marriage of Vista's mother and his Father. He's also the oldest of five children, four of which are from the previous marriage which puts a lot of pressure on him to be perfect and set a good example. He... he acts the way be does because it is the one aspect of his life he has control over. He feels left behind, ignored, he's just trying to gain some of the attention back that he feels he deserves."

Bachina looked down at her hands, wringing them in her lap. Maybe she had him all wrong, maybe he wasn't as bad as he seemed... Bachina shook her head, no. He was a player, through and through. It was no act. "Doesn't change the fact that he is a complete bastard towards me."

Dragon nodded his head, "I know." he clicked his tongue. "Listen, it's only a month. I'll be there for you, if no one else. I promise you that it will be okay and that he won't try anything. Just please stop worrying or you really will end up in the hospital again."

She bit her tongue and shook her head, refusing to meet his eyes. "Ban, _please_. You're my friend, I hate seeing you stuck in the hospital. This project is not worth it, Yasopp is not worth it."

Bachina brought her eyes to his and nodded, "I'll try, but I'm not making any promises."

He smiled in relief, "Thank you." He began to bob his head, a wicked grin forming on his face. "_Gloria, you're always on the run now._"

Her eyes widened and she shook her head, holding her hands out in front of her. "no, don't."

"_Running after somebody, you gotta get him somehow_." Dragon raised his eyebrows.

"_I think you've got to slow down, before you start to blow it_." Bachina sang blandly, "_I think you're headed for a breakdown, so be careful not to show it_." She sulked, "Dragon, I don't want to sing!"

Dragon stood up, and offered his hand. "Bachina, come on." He whined, "you know you want to! _You really don't remember, was it something that he said?" _Dragon swirled his fingers around his head, smirking as he sang the next part,_ "all the voices in your head, calling Gloriaaaaaa!"_

_"Gloria!" _ Bachina sang with him, their voices mixing together as she jumped to her feet,_ "don't you think you're falling?"_

_"_I can't believe you are making me do this. _If everybody wants you, why isn't anybody callin'?_" She shook her head, before taking his hand and squealing when he turned her, "_you don't have to answer. Leave 'em hanging on the line, oh-oh-oh!_ _Calling, Gloriaaaaaaa! Gloria-"_

_"Gloria!" _They called out.

_" I think they got your number." _Bachina backed away from him, covering her mouth to contain her giggles at Dragon's silly dancing.

_"Gloria!" _Dragon picked her up and threw her in the air, "Dragon!" She scolded, grabbing hold of his shoulders.

He placed her on the ground and she sashayed to her desk. _"I think they got your alias." _She grabbed her hairbrush, holding it to her mouth like a microphone.

_"Gloria!" _

_"But you really don't remember-" _Dragon cut in, stealing the hairbrush from her to belt out his part. "Stop stealing all of the good parts!"

Bachina grabbed it back, moon walking away from him._ "Was it something that they said?"_

Dragon pressed his head to hers,_ "All the voices in your head, calling Gloria? Gloria!" _Bachina laughed and grabbed his hand, dancing close to him. She moved him towards her dresser, and handed him her hair straightener. "What the hell am I supposed to -"

_"A-ha-ha A-ha-ha, Gloria, don't you think you're falling?" _Bachina jumped onto her bed.

Dragon laughed, jumping up to join her. Scowling when his head hit the ceiling._"If everybody wants you-"_

_B_achina pushed him off the bed, and grabbed his hand so that they were dancing beside each other. _"why isn't anybody caaalling? You don't have to answer. Leave them hanging on the line, oh-oh-oh. Calling, Gloria! Gloria!" _She jumped around the edge of the bed as he moved side to side, a huge grin on his face.

_"Gloria!" _Dragon belted, backing away from the bed so he could dance in the middle of the room. He bit his lip when one of their peers banged on the wall to get them to quiet down.

_"I think they've got your number,"_ Bachina shrugged, swaying her hips. "Ow!" She winched, rubbing her elbow from here she hit it against the wall. "I have to deal with their randy sex, they can deal for one song."

Dragon threw his head back dramatically, _"Gloria!"_ making his voice as loud as possible.

Bachina jumped off the bed, twirling over to him, "_I think they've got your alias,"_

_"Gloria!"_

They met in the middle of the room, heads thrown back as they sang. _"that you've been living uuunnnnnder!"_

Dragon danced, swaying away from Bachina, _"But you really don't remember,"_

Bachina raised her hand above her head, jumping on the balls of her feet,_"Oh-oh-oh" _

_"Was it something that they said?" _ Dragon winked at her.

_"Oh-oh-oh-oh"_

Bachina jumped onto her computer chair, pushing against the desk so that she slid across the room._"all the voices in your head?"_

_"Oh-oh-oh-oh"_

_"Calling, Gloriaaaaa!" _Dragon grabbed hold of the back of the chair and whipped her towards the other side of the room, causing her to squeal.

_"Gloria!" _

_"I think they got your number." _Bachina sang breathlessly, her cheeks a rosy red as she fought for her breath.

_"They got you, they've got your number-" _Dragon finished, pulling her back towards the desk and helping her out of the chair.

_"GLORIA!" _They yelled, falling back onto the bed, giggling uncontrollably. "I hate you." She stated, rubbing the tears from her eyes, her cheeks blazing from the exertion.

Dragon, equally out of breath, sported a grin that seemed to take up his entire face. "Nah, you love when I break out into song randomly." He laid back against the down comforter, and pulled her towards him. Bachina rested her head on his chest and sighed, "I don't understand why you don't sing anymore." Dragon declared once his breathing calmed, "you have a gorgeous voice."

Bachina rested her chin on his shoulder, her nose rubbing against his chin as she shrugged, "you've got a good voice yourself, I don't see you belting out songs left and right."

"Do you want me to get up and sing another song, cause I will." Dragon made to get up, falling back heavily on the comforter when she pushed him.

"Cut it out," she chuckled, shaking her hair from her face. "I just haven't found much to sing about lately is all. Unless I'm in the shower."

"I might have to come when you are in the shower then," Dragon mused, wincing when she slapped him over his head. "To hear you sing obviously." He added defensively.

"Pervert," Bachina chided gently, clicking her tongue. "If you promise not to pop up while I am in the shower, I promise to sing more." she paused for a second before adding , "but only when we are alone."

Dragon beamed, "I accept those terms, for now. When you come to work for me it will be part of your job to sing!"

"And here I thought you wanted me for my brains, not my vocal ability." Bachina scoffed, pushing herself up and sitting cross-legged beside him.

"I can't have both?" He asked, eyebrow raised. He lifted himself up onto his elbows and leaned his head back so that his hair brushed against the comforter.

Bachina tsked, "I thought you would've learned about having your cake and eating it too with Lucy."

Scowling, Dragon turned his face away from her, glaring at the front door. "Ban-"

"Do you want to talk about it?" She asked, touching his shoulder lightly. "I can't imagine what this must be like for you."

There was a pregnant pause, Dragon's gaze still on the door almost as if he were about to make a run for it. "I still love her," he admitted finally. "She's amazing, _insane_, gorgeous." He fell back against the comforter and looked up at the ceiling, "I.. where did I go wrong, Bachina? Why did things end up the way they did?"

Bachina fell back against her pillows, "I don't know." She said honestly. There was another pause, one that lasted nearly a minute before she spoke up again. "Maybe... maybe this project will be a good thing for you guys. Maybe there is still hope."

A shaky sigh left Dragon's lips, his head shaking, "Ban, don't- I have a girlfriend now, I can't just go jumping back to Lucy, even if I wanted to."

"Why not, you're girlfriend is a self obsessed Neanderthal." Bachina said bluntly, blowing her bangs out of her face. "Definitely not girlfriend material for someone who is going to head a revolution one day." she ranted, "you need someone who is more into helping people than into their looks."

"So she likes to dress up-" Dragon defended.

"I saw her kiss her reflection!" Bachina exclaimed, "she's worse than Yasopp! At least he has the looks to back it up." She slapped her hand over her mouth, glowering at Dragon's wicked smile. "Shut up, don't say a word." She warned.

"You think Yasopp is hot!" Dragon burst out laughing, "oh, I can't believe this."

Bachina scrunched up her nose and kicked her foot forward, pushing him off the edge of the bed. "I do _not_ think Yasopp is hot. He is an egotistical pig- don't change the subject, we were talking about you and Lucy."

"A hot egotistical pig," Dragon ducked the shoe she had thrown at him. "And here I thought it was hate that made you act the way you did towards him, it was lust!"

"It is not lust!" Bachina squealed angrily, "I hate everything about that jerk! His stupid hair, his stupid mouth, his stupid sparkly eyes, that stupid symmetrical ass of his..."

"So you've checked out his ass?" Dragon teased, settling himself back on the bed. "Bachina, it's okay. Every girl in school has the hots for him." Bachina leaned over and shoved him on the floor again, glaring down at him from over the edge of the bed. "Will you stop doing that!?" he asked indignantly.

"Stop insisting that I am lusting after Yasopp!"

"Why not, he lusts after you..." Dragon's eyes widened. "shit."

"WHAT!?"

Dragon shook his head and jumped to his feet, "I have to go. Need to get ready for that party and all- ugh!" Bachina jumped on top of him, causing him to fall to the floor. He struggled, but with Bachina on his back he did not want to buck her off and injure her. "Get off me!"

"Explain what you meant by that!" Bachina demanded, sliding off of him to sit on the floor beside his sprawled body.

"Meant by what?" Dragon asked innocently, maneuvering himself into a sitting potion. His eyes moving back and forth in an attempt to keep from looking in hers.

Bachina narrowed her eyes, "you can't lie to save your life, Monkey D. Dragon, so don't bother trying."

"Seriously, I have no idea what you are talking about." Dragon insisted, pulling himself off the floor and inching his way towards the door.

She jumped up, wiping off her skirt. "Dragon!" She made to grab for him, but he was out the door before she was able to get a firm hold. "You coward! We will be talking about this later!" She called to his retreating back. She muttered under her breath and reentered her room, slamming the door shut behind her.

She sat on the edge of her bed and crossed her arms over her chest, "what the hell was that all about?" Throwing herself back, she stared at the ceiling, "Yasopp finding me attractive, ha! And besides, who cares what that jerk thinks anyway?" She shook her head, nuzzling her face into the side of the comforter.

The conversations of the other dorm members on her floor filtered in through the door. From the bits and pieces she could hear, they were going to the party that Dragon was attending. Sighing, Bachina closed her eyes. While her classmates spent the evening getting drunk out of their minds, she would sleep, for chances are she would not be getting much of it after tomorrow.

o0o

"What is this?" Vista asked, staring at the three test tubes lining Bachina's desk.

Bachina looked up from her notes, a frown on her face as she pushed her goggles up her nose. "I am trying to find something that would combat the affects of water on devil fruit users. Those three tubes have blood from 3 different people. The first tube has blood from a Paramecia devil fruit user, the second from a Zoan and the third holds blood from a Logia fruit user."

She pointed to one of the small vials on the desk in front of the test tubes, "this holds a solution which I hope will work. If I see the blood react to the solution, I will ask the person to come in and test it on them physically."

"That's impressive, I can see why Dragon wants you now." Vista said, amazement colouring his voice. "This is a huge deal."

Bachina merely shrugged, "it would be if I could actually get it to work."

Vista sat in her desk chair, spinning himself around on it. "You'll get it eventually. In science there are only a few possible answers, you just need to find the right combination to make it work." He stopped himself spinning by placing a hand on her desk and looking about her room. "You haven't packed yet I see."

"I was too busy sneaking chemistry equipment into my room to worry about packing," she said honestly. "I can't get any work done at the laboratories, there is always someone breathing over my shoulder making asinine comments."

"Want me to pack for you?" Vista offered, "I'm just sitting here anyway."

"You don't have to. I'll just throw a few of my uniforms and weekend clothes into my suitcase. Anything else I need I can come pick up after class on Friday."

Vista was already up and in her closet, digging out her suitcase from the very back of it. She was organized, to a point, but had so many boxes filled with notebooks, test tubes and other science paraphernalia that he wondered how she was able to keep track of everything. "Where did you get all of this stuff?" He asked, "you have more than most of the science department combined."

Bachina looked over her shoulder, "the notebooks are from this summer. They're experiments and ideas that just popped into my mind and I wrote down. If I am lucky I will get through a tenth of them before the year is out." She paused to put a drop of the solution from the vial into the first test tube. She blinked, then pouted at the lack of reaction. "The rest are things I've been taking from the science laboratories since last semester. Like I said, I can't perform experiments with everyone breathing down my neck so I do them here."

"It's nice to see where my student fees are going," Vista said lightly. He had located the suitcase and had it laying open on Bachina's bed. He walked over to her dresser and opened the top drawer, blushing brightly. "H-how about I just let you deal with your underwear?"

Bachina rolled her eyes, "just throw a few pairs of panties, a couple bras and socks in there. Don't be so embarassed. I'm sure you've seen your share of underwear."

His blush deepened, "o-of course I have!" he said indignantly as he closed his eyes and threw his hand into the draw to collect her underwear.

She clicked her tongue and turned back to her experiment. She put solution into the second test tube and stared, eyes widening at the slight reaction it caused. The solution changed from dark red to a light blue, otherwise no reaction was made.

Quickly, she wrote down her results and moved onto the next tube, putting a bit of the solution there. It had a bigger reaction than the second one had causing her to squeal. The blood went from a dark red to violet, and started to lightly bubble before settling down at yellow.

Vista looked over her shoulder, "that third one looks deadly. I would try that on a mouse before I try it on a human." he said helpfully. "The second one I would try on the human. It doesn't seem like it'll do much harm."

Bachina grinned, "I just need to go find some mice, oh! And I need to get a couple of cages." She put a hand to her chin, a frown forming on her face, "oh."

Vista, who had went back to packing for her looked up from her suitcase, "what's wrong?"

"The devil fruits that the school uses to experiment on are locked away, I will never get clearance." She sighed, rubbing her forehead. "I am going to have to break into the head lab in the middle of the night. How annoying."

"You do that?" Vista asked, unsure if he should feel impressed or worried.

"I don't make a habit of it." Bachina said with a shrug, "but sometimes I don't have a choice."

"How have you not been kicked out?"

"I know a few of the secret passageways and how to get passed the lasers. The teachers aren't as intelligent as they like the think they are. Most of it is child's play if you know what you're doing." Bachina moved into the bathroom to gather her toothbrush and other bathroom necessities. "You're free to come with me, if you want." she offered, humming under her breath as she went through a mental list of what she wanted to bring with her.

"I may need to just out of sheer curiousity" Vista sat down on the bed and crossed his legs, "why not just work with one of the professors?"

Bachina came back into the room, dumping her burden on the bed beside the suitcase, "can't." She shook her head, clicking her tongue. "They will demand taking responsibility over the project then taking the credit." She placed the last of her bathroom things into the suitcase, and closed the lid. "Besides, I am working on other projects with them, less dangerous, more innocent projects that bore me out of my mind."

"Why?" Vista asked curiously, moving to her desk when she pushed his shoulder. "If they aren't intellectually stimulating why bother?"

"It's always better to be underestimated," Bachina said simply. "If a person thinks they know everything you have to offer, they'll try to take advantage. It's good to pretend to be less than you are at times."

"That's an odd theory," Vista commented, bemused.

"Well, think of it this way. If you are fighting against someone, do you give it your all at the start, or do you test him first?"

"I test them," Vista said, "and adjust accordingly."

"Isn't it good to play weak at times, so that you can shock them with a surprise attack?" Bachina asked, leaning over him to gather her textbooks, and turning to dump them in the cardboard box on the floor beside the bed. She plopped down on her bed, pulling her goggles from around her neck and placing them on the desk.

"Well, sometimes," he admitted.

"It's the same in academia, you just need to know how to play the game." She said, with a shrug. Her eyes scanned the room, "okay, I think I am ready to walk to my doom now."

Vista chuckled, "you act as if you are going to be executed."

"I wish." Bachina muttered, throwing on her jacket and slinging her bag over her back. "Let's get this over with."

o0o

Vista and Bachina stood in front of the tower, their eyes traveling up its broken brick wall to the flickering lights that flashed through the dingy windows. Lightning flashed across the sky, and the sound of thunder soon followed- a storm was brewing at the shore.

"Well, go on." Vista encouraged, pushing at the small of Bachina's back to get her to move forward.

"You were the one so excited to come here yesterday. What happened?" She mocked before turning to the boy on her left. "Dragon, will you calm down you big baby? Charlie isn't even in the tower."

Dragon let go of her arm and scowled, "I am not a baby! Poltergeists are creepy creatures, they can walk through walls _and_ kill you, how can that not worry you?"

"Yeah, well, I'd rather room with him than Yasopp any day." Bachina muttered.

"Go ahead, Giordano. Maybe he will do us all a favour and kill you, then I won't have to deal with you anymore." Yasopp called, as he walked up to the group. His latest date was beside him, not looking happy to be there.

"Oh, Yasopp!" Bachina said flippantly, her eyes falling to the petite blonde on her shoulder, "and Angelina, how nice!"

The blonde cheerleader sneered at her and turned to pout at Yasopp, "baby, do we _have_ to be here? The dust in this dump will dry out my skin."

Yasopp pulled himself away from her, "if you don't want to go in feel free to leave. I need to bring my bag up to my room. What floor do we have again?" he asked Bachina.

"You can have the roof, I will be on the seventh floor." Bachina said, pulling at Vista's and Dragon's sleeves, "c'mon guys, let's go get set up. Then we can explore for a bit." At Dragon's whimper, she let go of him, "Curran, you can deal with him."

Yasopp blinked before making a non-committal noise. She rolled her eyes at him and held out her hand for his bag, "he is on the sixth floor. I'll take your bag up for you so you can help him." pausing she considered Angelina, "then you can get back to your fuck- I mean your date."

"You are going to leave me in the room alone!?" Dragon squeaked, looking up at the tower.

"Vista and I will be right down after I drop off the bags- oof," Bachina scowled, before dropping Yasopp's bag to the floor. "That was unnecessary!" she hissed as she bent down to pick the bag back up. "You could have just handed it to me."

"Whatever, Dragon lets go." Yasopp pulled him by the sleeve towards the tower, Angelina following close behind them whining about the dust. "Seriously, how are you supposed to be leader of a revolution if you can't handle a damn poltergeist!?"

"How many poltergeists are in the New World?" Dragon snapped, "very few. There is something seriously wrong with this school." He pulled his bag higher on his shoulder and followed Yasopp and Angelina into the castle, mood darkening with every step he took.

"We are in for a fun month," Bachina muttered as she adjusted the cardboard box in her arms.

"What is his deal with poltergeists?" Vista asked, taking Yasopp's bag from Bachina and handing her a lighter one as they walked into the tower.

They paused, allowing their eyes to adjust to the candlelit corridor before making their way up the worn stone stairs. "Do you know Thriller Bark?" Bachina asked, shaking her hair from her eyes.

"The moving one with all the zombies and ghosts?"

"Yeah, his father sent him there for a week as part of his survival training. All Dragon had with him was a pocket knife which, I am sure you can imagine, did absolutely nothing for him."

Vista's face twisted into sympathy, "his father seems like a piece of work. Who would do that to their child?"

Bachina took in her surroundings, pressing herself closer to Vista when she thought one of the pictures on the walls was watching her, its eyes seemingly following her with every movement she made. "His father has some unorthodox ways of handling things." She admitted as she looked around her wearily.

They finally made it to the seventh floor. Distinctively, they could hear Dragon whimpering from the floor below them and Yasopp snapping at him. The landing they were on was darker than the others, only one candle lightly the long corridor. The threadbare rug that ran the length of the hallway was dingy from lack of cleaning, and the pictures on the walls were difficult to make out with the layers of dust they had acclimated in the hundred or so years since the tower had been occupied.

"Which room is yours?" Vista asked, pulling the candle down from its spot on the wall so that they could see where they were walking.

"All of them, we have the entire floor to ourselves." Bachina said, opening the door closest to the stairs and peering in. "This is the kitchen." She closed the door again, and moved onto the next one, Vista following closely behind her.

"I can't take this!" Dragon screamed, a thud coming from the floor below them followed by the thundering of steps leading up to the seventh floor. He slammed into Vista and held onto him tightly, "this place is so fucking scary. I can't take this."

Vista accidentally dropped the candle he was holding, causing the entire corridor to fall into pitch blackness. "Fuck!" Dragon, whimpered. "Get off me will you!"

"Dragon, where are you!?" Yasopp called, his steps sounding as he walked up the landing, the light from his own candle bringing light back to the floor.

Dropping the bags on the floor Vista picked up the candle from the floor, meeting Yasopp at the stairs so that he could relight it. "What the hell happened downstairs?"

Yasopp leaned against the wall, rubbing his forehead with his free hand. "Angelina tripped over the rug and grabbed onto him to stop herself from falling. She spooked him." He paused for a moment, "anyway, I put his bags in his room. Dinkler isn't here yet, so I would suggest keeping him with you until she turns up." He turned to walk back down the stairs, "don't wait up, _dear_." he said mockingly, before disappearing to the landing below.

"Don't worry, I won't." Bachina called after him, turning to Dragon. "You can stay with me until Lucy shows up."

"I hope she doesn't, then I don't have to stay here." Dragon said childishly as he bent down to pick up the bags that Vista placed on the floor.

"Sure, that's the only reason you don't want her to show up." Bachina snarked, she waved her hand around. "Any idea where the bedroom is?"

Dragon gestured to the room on the furthest end of the corridor, "there." He blinked when they stared at him expectantly, "I am not going first!"

Shaking her head, Bachina took the lead. She stopped in front of the door. She maneuvered the box in arms to her right arm and touched the handle with her left hand, hissing and pulling her hand back immediately, "it burned me!"

"See! Shit is already starting, we are all going to die!" Dragon cried, dropping the bags to the floor, his hands curling into fists.

Vista shouldered past Dragon and took Bachina's hand in his, pulling it close to his face so that he could examine it. "There's nothing there, are you certain?"

Bachina frowned, taking her hand back to study it. "Yeah, it felt extremely hot." She shrugged, and touched the knob again, relaxing completely and turning it when she saw that it was not hot. She pushed the door open and stared inside, coughing when the door disturbed the dust. "First job is to clean this place up," she muttered, waving her hand in front of her face.

The box she had in her arms was placed on the floor, before she stood on her tiptoes to light the oil lamp beside the door, bathing the room in a soft orange glow. Vista walked in after her, dumping his burden at the foot of the bed and moving to the windows to open them. They stuck, but after a minute of fighting with them he finally got them open. "We should have probably come earlier when there was more daylight." He commented, wiping his hands on his black jeans leaving steaks of grey across them. What little light was left from the day filtered through the room, allowing them to see clearly.

Dragon, seeing that they were not attacked by anything unseen, cautiously made his way into the room. "I guess everything is the same for everyone, Lucy's and my bedroom is the same as yours." He moved to the dresser and pulled out candles and matches, setting them on the desk. "I would set these up before it gets too dark to see where you are going."

Vista nodded before he left the room, there was the sound of various doors opening and closing in the corridor. Dragon peeked out of the room, watching Vista with wide eyes. "I think I remember Marlena mentioning a storage room somewhere on each floor!" he called to him after a minute.

"Thanks!"

Bachina shook her head, "this is insane. It's going to take forever to clean this place up! How are we expected to sleep here, the bed it one big dust ball and I wouldn't sleep on the floor if you paid me a billion beri."

"Should we get the mattresses from our dormitories and put these in the storage room until we leave?" Dragon suggested.

"No need!" Vista called, showing up at the doorway, covered in a layer of dust. "That storage room has a barely used mattress and a bunch of appliances and things for the kitchen. All of them look fairly new and there's no dust on them."

"Do you think the professor's did it?" Bachina asked, staring around the room in disgust. She wanted to clean, but had no inkling of where to begin.

"They probably thought you guys would have the idea Dragon did about taking the mattresses from your dormitories so they gave you some instead." Vista shrugged, "probably did not want the lawsuits from kids falling down the stairs trying to drag them up here."

Dragon stared at Bachina, eyebrow raised. "That was one time, and my parent's didn't even sue." she muttered defensively, ignoring Vista's curious gaze. "Were there any cleaning supplies? I'm going to need to clean this place up before I feel comfortable enough putting anything remotely clean in here."

Vista nodded, "yeah, I'll help you clean the bedroom here then we can go down and do Dragon and Lucy's. With the three of us doing it, we should be done in no time."

o0o

Famous last words. It was almost two hours later and barely a dent had been made to the room.

"I need a break," Bachina complained, throwing her rag down in defeat. She had been cleaning the windows, while Vista did the rug and Dragon took the furniture out into the hall to clean them out and wipe them down. The room was void with the bed, couch, vanity and mirror out in the corridor, leaving the room empty for easier cleaning.

"I am going to just pull this rug up," Vista said, standing up and stretching. "There is no use trying to clean it, it's impossible."

"Are we allowed to do that?" Bachina asked, sitting on the windowsill she had previously cleaned, her feet kicking back and forth.

"I can put it back when you leave," Vista kneeled and pulled one edge of the carpet, and it came up easily. "You are kidding me," he muttered. He stepped against the wall, onto the wooden floor under the carpet and pulled, causing the entire thing to move from the floor revealing a pristine wooden floor underneath. Bachina shut her eyes and covered her mouth to keep the dust from going in her eyes or mouth. "Me thinks they are fucking with you guys."

Dragon peered into the room, his eyes bulging. "How'd you do that!?"

"He just pulled the carpet up," Bachina said, wiping the dust from her face and jumping down from the window sill. "It'll still need a quick sweep and once over with the mop, but that'll take no time at all." She stopped and frowned at the walls, "the walls are another issue entirely."

Dragon frowned, dodging away from Vista as the boy left the room, hauling away the carpet. He poked at the wall, scratching his fingers against it. "It's paper." He said finally.

"What?"

He took out his small pocket knife and ran it along the wall, "what're you- oh!"

Dragon pulled the paper from where he cut it to reveal gorgeous walls clean walls, "I can't believe this." he said, shaking his head. "Why do you think they would go to all this work to hide it?"

"Probably because like us, the rest of our classmates will spend hours cleaning and not know that there are good clean walls and floors hidden." Bachina crossed her arms, "although, I am not entirely sure what we are supposed to learn from this. Usually houses look okay and you realize they are crap afterwards, not the other way around."

"Let there be light!" Dragon flipped a switch and a light from the ceiling turned on. "Seems like the place is fitted with florescent lights."

Bachina gaped, "where'd you find that!?"

"It was behind the wallpaper I pulled down," Dragon shrugged, "you know, maybe this place won't be so bad after all." He leaned against the wall, "it's definitely a lot-"

Bachina had her head in the closet, "Dragon, I didn't hear that." She turned towards where her friend was, "...dragon?"

"AHHHH!"

A scream sounded from the floor below them, causing Bachina to jump. Vista raced into the room, "what happened? Who screamed, where did Dragon go?"

"YOU SCARED THE HELL OUT OF ME YOU BASTARD!"

"I-I'M SORRY, LUCY!"

Vista and Bachina looked at each other before they raced downstairs to their two screaming classmates. "What happened?" Bachina asked, bursting into the bedroom door.

A petite brunette with large black eyes stared back at her. She had short messy black hair with a red tank top and denim jeans on, a scowl on her face. "That idiot just showed up out of nowhere and scared the hell out of me!"

Bachina walked over to the agitated girl and rubbed a hand over her arm, "it's okay, breathe in slowly, then out." she instructed before turning to Dragon, "what happened?"

Dragon shrugged, his hand wiping his nose , "shishishi, I dunno. One minute I was upstairs leaning against the wall, and the next I find myself down here getting yelled at by Lucy."

"Must be one of the secret passage ways they used to use during times of invasions," Vista said, rubbing a hand through his hair. "Are you all right? That would've been quite a fall."

"More shocked than anything," Dragon said truthfully, brushing the dirt off his jeans.

"Forget about that," Lucy said, "what're we going to do about this dump?"

"The carpet and wall paper come up, and there is a clean mattress and appliances in the storage room down the hall." Bachina answered, "do you want Vista and I to help you guys? I almost finished up with the one I am sharing with Curran."

"Don't you need help moving the furniture back into the bedroom?" Dragon asked innocently.

Narrowing her eyes, Bachina folded her arms over her chest and shook her head. "No," she said firmly, "Vista and I have it. You can stay here with Lucy and help her."

Lucy sighed, rubbing the back of her head as she surveyed the room. "Nah, I think the two of us have it. Thanks."

"If you're sure we will leave you guys to it," Vista said, grabbing Bachina's hand to drag her out of the room. His eyes were flashing with excitement. "Let's go finish up, then we can finally go exploring."

"Exploring? I want to go exploring!" Lucy said excitedly, jumping onto the balls of her feet.

Bachina grinned, "we'll come get you guys when we finish with the bedroom." She turned to Dragon, "I assume you are coming too?"

He narrowed his eyes, "I hate you all." Throwing up his hands in defeat, "fine! But if we die, I am coming back to torment all of you." He called to their backs as Bachina and Vista went back upstairs to the seventh floor.

"But if we are dead, he wouldn't have a reason to come back," Vista whispered to her, waving his goodbye as they turned the corner to the stairs.

Bachina rolled her eyes, "He's Dragon," she commented as way of explanation. "You just need to let what he says wash over you. Half of what he says makes no sense." She stopped, "where is the furniture?"

Vista shrugged his eyes scanning the corridor, "I'm not sure." He lead her into the bedroom, stopping short, "Yasopp, what the fuck did you do this time!?"

Bachina ducked under Vista's arm, eyes and mouth opening in shock, "what the actual- How the hell did you get the furniture on the ceiling!?" She screeched, looking around herself wildly.

"It wasn't me!" Yasopp defended, "it was like this when I got here."

"As if!" Bachina argued, "who the hell else would do something like-" A scream rose from the floor below them. They all froze before storming out of the room back down to Dragon and Lucy's room. "What's wrong now!?"

Dragon knocked them all to the floor in an attempt to get out of the room, "Dragon, get off me!" Yasopp hissed, pushing the boy off of him. "What the fuck is going on!?"

"T-the furniture began floating," he stuttered, eyes wide as he pointed around the room.

The three blinked and peered into the room, indeed, the furniture was floating about the room. "Where's Lucy?" Vista asked, not seeing the small girl in the room.

"Up here!" Lucy called from her spot on the floating bed, she giggled. "This is so much fun!"

"As if!" Dragon snapped, "floating furniture is not _fun_, it's terrifying!"

"Something similar happened in my room," Yasopp said. "I came in and found the furniture on the ceiling." There was a loud thud, "that must be it falling back to the floor." he said insipidly, staring up at the ceiling with disdain. "I hope that didn't put a hole in the floor."

"We're gonna have to try and find out what is going on before we finish cleaning," Bachina rubbed the back of her head, closing her eyes. "How annoying."

"No we don't!" Dragon insisted, "we really really don't."

Lucy jumped down from the bed, folding her arms over her chest. "Of course we do! Where there is a mystery, there is adventure, and where there is adventure, there is fun!"

"More like death," Dragon muttered darkly, "you don't screw with the supernatural! You can screw with anything else, but not that!"

"All those in favour of exploring the castle and finding out the cause say 'I'," Yasopp said, raising his hand in the air.

"I" Lucy, Vista and Bachina said in unison.

Dragon glowered, "I hate you all."

* * *

><p>Gloria is the property of Laura Branigan, with the version I used being property of the Glee cast members and their affiliates.<p>

1. Dragon is scared of poltergeists, the way Luffy is afraid of bullets. The man has to be afraid of something, I just took a humorous approach to it.

2. I feel Dragon was a lot less scary and serious as a child/teenager, but events in later in life caused him to become stoic.

3. I think Luffy got a lot from his mother, I choose to use his love of adventure as one of the things he got from her.

4. Bachina and Dragon's singing, I was in a silly mood and listening to Gloria non-stop to be completely honest with you, otherwise you probably would not have gotten a scene like that for quite a few more chapters.

**5. I had a lot of fun writing this chapter. **

**6. I hope you had as much fun reading it! Let me know!**

Have a great day!

Chandlure Trainez


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